Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is very disappointing. I absolutely acknowledge that there are teams. There are community-based teams in primary care, for example, and teams in our hospitals, where they really are under pressure. There were vacancies in their teams through the embargo and they no longer have sanction to immediately hire into those. However, as envisaged under Sláintecare, we are pushing accountability and decision-making out. Individual hospitals, where they have far more staff than they did even a year ago, have the authority to deploy into those roles, as do the regional executive officers.

To try to make this real, three of the hospitals where I believe there are protests this week are Our Lady of Lourdes, Drogheda, Cork University Hospital and Connolly hospital. My understanding is healthcare workers are outside their own hospitals protesting about the lack of staff. In Our Lady of Lourdes, the increase in the nursing and midwifery workforce over the lifetime of this Government is nearly 30%. Critically, it has gone up every year, including this year. There has been an increase of 37% in nursing and midwifery in Cork University Hospital. That is 600 more nurses and midwives working in Cork University Hospital than there were when this Government was appointed. Again, the number has gone up every year, including this year. There has been a 32% increase in the nursing and midwifery workforce at Connolly hospital and, again, the number has gone up every year, including this year. That is why the protests are very disappointing.

If there is industrial action, all that will do is serve to lengthen waiting times for patients. It has an effect on services - it is designed to have an effect on services - which has an effect on patients. If protests were happening in the context of reductions in the workforce, that would be one thing, but we have just seen an unprecedented increase in workforce across all categories, including consultants, NCHDs, nursing and midwifery, health and social care professionals, and general administration. Right across the board, there has been an unprecedented increase. We have 28,000 more people working in the service today than we did when this Government was appointed. As I just shared, in addition to that, there are approximately 6,500 vacant, fully funded posts between now and the end of next year that the HSE can hire into. In the context of unprecedented hiring and staffing, it is just hard to understand.

However, I fully accept and acknowledge there are individual teams that are under huge pressure. The hospital managers and regional executive officers have authority to deploy into those areas. For example, it is estimated that safe staffing, which we are all fully signed up to, requires approximately 2,000 additional nurses. Some 1,500 of those are in situ so it is three quarters rolled out. The remaining number has been fully agreed and is now funded. In light of an unprecedented increase in the professions like that, quite rightly, which was hard fought for by their members and championed by this Government, it is really disappointing, notwithstanding the very real pressures for individual teams.